What three Heisman winners think of Tua Tagovailoa, Joe Burrow and 2019 race

In less than a month, the Heisman Trophy Trust will distribute ballots to its 928 voters who, along with one fan vote, will decide the 2019 winner of the award.

Never in the 84-year history of the Heisman has a quarterback from Alabama or LSU won.

That could change when the trophy is presented Dec. 14 in New York, and Saturday’s game between the Crimson Tide and Tigers could play an important role in which player raises it.

The potential showdown of two likely Heisman finalists in Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow is among the subplots to the first regular-season meeting between the Associated Press’ Nos. 1 and 2 teams since the same two schools met in 2011.

AL.com spoke to three of the currently 58 former Heisman winners who will cast ballots for the award to gauge where the race stood after two months of the season, and how they view Tagovailoa and Burrow in advance of the most significant college football game to date this season.

“It’s still wide open,” 2003 winner Jason White said. “There’s a lot of football left, a lot of big games left.”

Saturday’s big game is the sort of must-watch, appointment viewing that will draw in voters such as White, the former Oklahoma quarterback who threw for 40 touchdowns during a 12-win season in 2003.

Now the vice president of sales for an air conditioning company in Oklahoma, White has gotten more of an up-close look at current Sooners star Jalen Hurts this season than his former Tide teammate, Tagovailoa -- and noted Hurts should still be in the Heisman mix after Oklahoma’s loss last month to Kansas State.

This will be one of a few times White can watch Tagovailoa closely this season, and the magnitude of the game heightens its Heisman implications.

“I know voters don’t say it, but these head-to-head matchups are important,” White said. “You’ll think, well, I’ve got Tua and I’ve got Joe. They played each other. Tua [hypothetically] ended up winning. So that’s gonna be a positive for his side of the Heisman vote. [But] It would be really tough just to completely knock somebody off because they lost another game to a Heisman contender."

Saturday could be the first regular-season clash of finalists since Clemson’s Deshaun Watson beat Louisville’s Lamar Jackson in Oct. 2016. The duo threw for a combined 601 yards and seven touchdowns, and rushed for 253 yards and two touchdowns.

Jackson later won the Heisman over runner-up Watson.

“At the end of the day, your stars really come out [in these games]," White said.

White earned his first chance to start in 2001 for Oklahoma. He started but tore his ACL during a late October game in which the No. 2 Sooners were defeated by No. 3 Nebraska.

It was a signature win for Huskers quarterback Eric Crouch in what became his Heisman trophy-winning season.

Now the owner of a recreation equipment company based in Omaha, Crouch has Tagovailoa and Burrow, along with Ohio State defensive end Chase Young, as his top three Heisman contenders this season -- but much is left to be sorted out.

“I’d say, like, 75 percent of my decision is based on what happens this month,” he said. “25 [percent] is where we’re at right now leading into November.”

A sluggish September for offseason Heisman favorite Trevor Lawrence caused Clemson’s quarterback to slide in betting odds for the award, opening the door for Tagovailoa.

At one point a 2/1 favorite to win, an ankle injury Tagovailoa suffered in an Oct. 19 win over Tennessee dealt a blow to his chances.

Tagovailoa missed a blowout win over Arkansas and slid behind Burrow and Hurts in the odds.

If Tagovailoa recovers this season to win the Heisman, he would be the first winner to miss a regular-season game and still hoist the trophy in 26 years.

The last to do it was Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward in 1993. He bruised his ribs in a 54-0 win over Wake Forest and was held out the following week’s meeting with Maryland, then 1-7.

“That really wasn’t my focus, whether it was going to cost me the Heisman or not,” Ward said. “I prepared myself to play. It was one of those situations very similar to Tua, in a sense, where I could have played if I needed to play. But they chose to sit me out because we were playing Notre Dame the next week.”

Much like Tagovailoa’s backup Mac Jones, who completed 82 percent of his passes for three touchdowns against the Razorbacks, Ward’s backup Danny Kanell handled business against the Terrapins, throwing for 341 yards and five touchdowns.

The next week, Ward returned and the top-ranked Seminoles lost at No. 2 Notre Dame. But the Irish’s loss to Boston College the ensuing week gave Florida State new life, and they capitalized by beating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl for a national championship.

Ward later decided to pursue a career in basketball, playing 11 seasons in the NBA.

If Tagovailoa returns against LSU and only misses one game because of ankle surgery, Ward does not view that as an obstacle to his Heisman candidacy.

“Tua’s injury I don’t think will affect one’s opinion,” he said. “If he comes back healthy and plays well the rest of the way, he’ll have an opportunity just like everyone else.”

“I promise you if he goes out and has a lights-out day against LSU, I think he’ll be plunged right back where he was,” he said.

Crouch sees a path for Tagovailoa’s Heisman odds to improve but cautioned the drop was not only because of his missed game against Arkansas but also doubts about whether Tagovailoa can play near his full ability upon his return.

“To me, it’s because there’s like this unknown now about how he’ll recover and play,” he said. “I think that when he comes back he’s got to show that he’s the same guy."

That guy at full health, Crouch said, is special to watch.

“Tua is just smooth operator," he said. "He’s got tremendous athletic ability. Lot of moxie about the way he plays the game. He makes throws and he does things that you just didn’t think were humanly possible. He’s so good. He’s just like every quarterback’s dream of being that type of player to be able to make those types of throws, those types of reads, and also be able to use your feet to make plays. I really love watching him play the game.”

Tagovailoa’s one missed game -- if he returns against LSU -- could dampen his overall statistics, but the former Heisman winners agreed their decision will go beyond the numbers.

“It’s just a matter of who’s the most valuable player,” Ward said. “Sometimes it doesn’t really come down to stats.”

Tua Tagovailoa (7 games)

Jalen Hurts (8 games)

Joe Burrow (8 games)

Justin Fields (8 games)

Passing yards/game

309.4

308.6

350.6

207.4

Rushing yards/game

4.3

100.1

15.6

39.9

Passing touchdowns

27

21

30

24

Rushing touchdowns

2

13

3

9

Interceptions

2

3

4

1

Passing efficiency rating

212.4

224.3

204.5

185.2

Completion percentage

74.7

73.9

78.8

68.8

QBR

95.6

94.6

91.5

93.4

Average def. ranking opponents faced

61st

100th

71st

43rd

FCS opponents

0

1

1

0

Considering supporting casts

Of Tagovailoa’s 27 touchdown passes this season, fourth-most in the country, 13 have come on throws less than 10 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Fourteen of Tagovailoa’s touchdowns have been thrown to either Jerry Jeudy or Henry Ruggs III, the pair of Alabama wide receivers who could both be first-round picks in the 2020 NFL draft.

Alabama’s style of offense, which has been powered this season by quick-strike RPO (run-pass option) passes and long gains after catches by talented receivers, has led to some questions about the difficulty of Tagovailoa’s accomplishments this season.

White chuckled at the concept.

“You have to still throw the ball,” he said. “You have to get it in the vicinity of these first-round draft pick receivers. Because if it’s not, they’re not gonna catch it.”

The Sooners were stocked with talent at wide receiver in 2003. Leading pass-catcher Mark Clayton would be drafted in 2005 as a first rounder ahead of teammates Mark Bradley in the second round and Brandon Jones in the third round. Travis Wilson became another third-round pick in 2006.

White was not drafted in 2005 and signed with the Tennessee Titans but retired months later, citing his knee injuries.

“I had the same issue,” White said of the idea of being given less credit as a quarterback because of his supporting cast.

“As a quarterback, your job is to distribute the ball to your guys that are first-round draft picks,” he continued. “You can put a guy in there that’s not very good at quarterback and I can promise you those first-round receivers would not be first-round receivers because they’re not getting the ball.

“So I don’t really take that into consideration because I look at the total body of work that he’s done. Game in and game out, [Tagovailoa] goes in and really performs well.”

All-American help at receiver or not, Crouch believes Tagovailoa is not in the Heisman conversation by mistake.

“I actually don’t put a whole lot of weight into that,” he said. “I’m sure when they look at this guy’s overall package in terms of the type of player and the abilities that he has, the type of arm, that’s not gonna be a factor.”

Ward said what a program has built around a quarterback should not be held against him.

“All those guys who are top runners this year in the Heisman race, at this point, have weapons,” he said. “But they’re also doing things to help separate themselves when it comes to making plays, extending plays and then making plays out of the pocket.”

A graduate transfer from Ohio State who started last season for LSU, Burrow quickly injected himself into the Heisman conversation this season. He ranks second in the nation with 2,805 passing yards and 30 touchdowns.

“He’s one of the most improved players in the country,” said Jim Nagy, the executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

“The accuracy has improved. He’s getting the ball out. It looks like a guy who has played more football. … When you watch Joe, it really seems like the game has slowed down for him.”

Crouch, who played with Burrow’s older brother Jamie at Nebraska, has followed the Tigers quarterback closely as he has flourished under new passing game coordinator Joe Brady this season.

“I think Burrow has had a tremendous season in terms of being in a place for such a short period of time," Crouch said. “Fitting into the culture and the scheme and becoming a huge, huge leader for that team. Real smart, headsy. Makes big plays. Makes the right reads. That gutsy type player you just want to watch. That’s what’s exciting about his game, is he’s doing stuff that I don’t think people really expected him to do.”

White has also watched more of Burrow this season than Tagovailoa.

“He’s kind of that guy that just came out of nowhere," he said. "A lot of people can say the same thing about [Burrow as Tagovailoa]. ‘Oh, it’s the system that he’s in or it’s the guys that he has around him.' He has to get them the ball. It has to be a pretty accurate throw. I think he’s got a great shot, too.”

Odds released Saturday by FanDuel Sportsbook showed Burrow as the Heisman favorite at +160, followed by Hurts at +280, Tagovailoa at +300, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields at +900 and Young at +1400.

“It’s hard to say who I would choose,” Ward said.

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